Category: Writing

Here we are on day zero, A.K.A. the day before NaNoWriMo. For those unaware, NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month: a month in which writers of the world enjoy an incredibly supportive and positive community as we all reach for that 50,000 words. That’s right, the goal of NaNoWriMo is to write 50,000 words in a month. If you reach that goal, you win. Last year I won with my first ever novel Ravenscrag....

With my novel, Ravenscrag, still in the desperate throes of editing, this writer is in need of a fresh start; a new idea. National Novel Writing Month is just around the corner, and I’ve decided to set aside my work on Ravenscrag and start a new novel. I need a chance of literary scenery and this should do the trick nicely. For those of you who aren’t aware, National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo as it is usually...

When I was 15, my mother bought me a calligraphy pen set for Christmas. It came with the fountain pen, several different nibs, and ink cartridges in black, blue, and red. I followed the instructions to put the ink cartridge in and get it working. We lived below the poverty line so it was by no means a fancy or high quality pen, but at the time I didn’t really understand fountain pens so didn’t...

CHILDHOOD I started writing poetry when I was 9 years old. Nobody ever told me to do it, I simply felt compelled to create a tangible representation of what went on in my young head. As a kid suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), I had a lot of emotions flowing through me: anger and fear being major players. I spent a lot of time alone, and I spent a lot of time writing....

As I lower myself through hot steam, I’m transported to a place without measurable time. It’s just me and this water, in this room. This is nice. I feel relaxed. Water ripples at my temples while I close my eyes and sink deeper. Soon only my nose and knees are above the waterline and I imagine I’m a submarine, hidden deep and safe in the warm water. I smell lavender and palm leaves rising all...

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the places on this beautiful planet that give me a true sense of self. The kind of place where just being there opens up a deep, hidden part of you and shows you your reflection. Suddenly you feel like you can breathe again; tension leaves your body and for a brief moment, your mind is clear. You are whole. When I was young, that place for me was...

I awoke feeling like garbage. It was Wednesday, and I’d spent the last two days eating foods that no human being should eat in the quantities I was ingesting. I received a letter the day before about some test results and new I had to try to see my doctor. I searched myself for energy, but could find none. Begrudgingly dragging myself from between the sheets, I stepped into a new day with as much...

I jumped and the rope snapped. Not all at once, but it slackened enough to save my life in the exact moment I decided I wanted to be saved. We’d used similar rope in the barn to lift thousand pound beams to brace the ceiling. I was lucky. I jumped when my dad snapped. His loaded trigger finger sent a bolt deep into the tree over my head where he forced me to stand with...

She can paint a pretty picture. All her dreams are laid out on a canvas so large that you cannot see her. Her passion scares her, as once once it is engulfed, she is an optimism wildfire, destroying everything in her path with the Possibilities Of Greatness that keep her dreaming forward. A plain life won’t cut it. She hasn’t been small since she was a cowering child in the shadow of her father, inconsequential...

A blue screen flickers in a room where the only sounds are the distant hum of a refrigerator and the perfectly timed ticking of a clock on the wall. There is no traffic droning by outside the window. There are no voices or footsteps in the hall. The neighbor’s piano was hushed hours ago. The world is asleep, but I am awake. Persistent thoughts spin a web of bloodshot through my stinging eyes. Though my...